WHO: Cell Phones Linked to Brain Cancer, Again

[knickle]

Did anyone else notice that the results of the study were "significantly increased risk"? So the 12800 people studied have a higher risk, but none of them actually have a brain tumor. So what exactly do they mean by increased risk?

In addition, I decided to hop over to the WHO website and I can't find any information regarding any recent study of cell phones that support the article. I did however find plenty of articles that state "No evidence". Don't take my word for it though. Check out the WHO link yourself.

 

[WheelsOfConfusion]

[citation][nom]knickle[/nom]Did anyone else notice that the results of the study were "significantly increased risk"? So the 12800 people studied have a higher risk, but none of them actually have a brain tumor. So what exactly do they mean by increased risk?[/citation]
In epidemiology studies you usually collect the data and then weed through it for correlations, like people having brain tumors who use cell phones a lot versus people who use cell phones a lot without having brain tumors, or something like that. You have to be careful to narrow things down to just a few (preferably one) factor that you can easily control for. A lot of studies that initially show positive correlation are later thrown out because different confounding factors show up on closer scrutiny.

In addition, I decided to hop over to the WHO website and I can't find any information regarding any recent study of cell phones that support the article.

The study hasn't been finalized yet. This is based on preliminary conclusions.

 

[Guest]

INTERESTING NOTES ON CELL PHONES AND THE DEVELOPMET OF BRAIN AND ORAL CANCERS

We do scientific research on the growth of mammalian brain cells in microwave radiation fields.

We have known for quite some time that there is no question that 500 MHz to 2000 MHz forms of radiation (that which are used in cell phones world-wide) greatly increase the risk of brain cancer in our studies, and especially increase the risk for the much more virulent strains of stage IV glioblastoma multiform (GBM), a horrible form of brain cancer for which there is a very poor prognosis and no cure.

Data on this was recently presented at the October 2009 meetings of the Society for Neuro-Oncology and the Congress of Neurological surgeons in New Orleans LA.

Here are some additional interesting facts that arose:

Where you use a cell phone is probably important. If you use a cell phone in an elevator or a car you get a "Faraday Effect" in which the microwave bombardment of your brain is intensified. The microwaves eminating from your cell phone are reflected by the metal surface and the microwave-induced damage is greatly intensified.

Interestingly, the shape of a more round vehicle, such as a Volkswagen, has exceptionally strong damage-amplifying effects.

While cell phone use has been strongly linked to cancer in several independent world-wide studies, including our own, their is growing evidence that cell phone users might be also at additional risk for oral (mouth) cancers due to the proximity of the cell phone to the oral cavity.

Think about it. Using a cell phone is like pressing your ear tightly up against a microwave oven when it is on high. I don't know too many people who would do this.

Grounded cell (land) telephone lines don't show any of these pro-cancer effects.

From the results of our studies and from our colleagues, it is certainly wise to avoid the use of cell phones, especially in specific environments, and common sense is again in order

Contributed from a PhD Scientist and Investigator of Microwave radiation on biological systems

 

[nekatreven]

[citation][nom]knickle[/nom]You're forgetting something. The reason your cell phone will work for miles is not because of the power output of the phone, it's because of the Cell tower. If your wireless router had a massive antenna attached the top of a building with a powerful transmitter, you would be able to take your laptop miles away and connect to it without an issue. Trust me on this.As goofy as this sounds, I recommend that some of you seek out the training manual for obtaining a HAM radio license. You will find tons of info that will explain how RF technology actually works. I did this back in the early 90s because a few friends were doing it and took the test to get a license (and passed).The bottom line, get yourself educated. Learn from the text book, not the media or some backward blog.[/citation]

You're actually sort of entirely wrong. All of these things we are discussing are TWO way communications. Both ends of the connection need to be able to send AND receive traffic. While it is true that increasing gain can do wonders, beefing up one end of the connection will only get you so far. Amplifiers actually do even less for you than higher gain antennas, since they do nothing to increase that same side's sensitivity to the still weak other end.

Besides the high gain tower side, and any amps they have on that end, the frequencies used for cell phones are much lower than the 2.4ghz used for wifi, and they penetrate far better than wifi. Also, the cell ranges are licensed by the FCC (in the US), and interference can be better controlled. The 2.4 that runs wifi is not registered and the noise level is monstrous.

If you did that with you laptop...it would see the access point from miles away...but it would be unable to return any traffic due to low gain, low power level, and the scattering tendencies of waves that short.

Please don't try to school a guy who assisted with wISP deployments for ISPs with thousands of customers for three years.

Saying a laptop could reach that far is ridiculous